Colorado Man Sentenced to 19 Years for Enticing a Minor

United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that Nathan Lee Kempter, 33, of Littleton, Colorado, was sentenced today in Lincoln, Nebraska, by Chief United States District Judge John M. Gerrard. Kempter was previously found guilty by a jury for enticement of a minor and travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.  Kempter was sentenced to 19 years in prison.  After his release from prison, he will begin a 12-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.  Kempter will also be required to register as a sex offender.

In August of 2019, the Lincoln Police Department was contacted about a missing 14-year-old girl. The girl had last been heard talking to someone on the phone.  She had been observed near her residence getting into a red, four-door SUV and leaving the area.  Her phone was reviewed for additional information and revealed a Colorado telephone number that she had called.  The number belonged to Kempter who resided in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Kempter was also the registered owner of a red 2015 Nissan SUV.  The police were able to track the movement of Kempter’s cellphone and determined it was located just across the Nebraska/Colorado border on Interstate 76. Lincoln Police contacted law enforcement authorities in Colorado.  

On August 02, 2019 at 11:54 p.m., Douglas County, Colorado Sheriff’s deputies saw Kempter driving toward his residence in Highland Ranch, Colorado. Deputies stopped the vehicle in front of the residence and Kempter was arrested.  At that time, Kempter informed the deputies that the young girl in his vehicle was 14 years old. 

The 14-year-old stated she met Kempter on the Reddit website, in a chat room for teen runaways. Her screen name indicated she was a 14-year-old female. After communicating with Kempter on Reddit, they moved their conversation to Tumblr, another social media platform, and exchanged messages between July 23, 2019 and August 2, 2019.  During these conversations, Kempter made it known he wanted to have sex with the girl and would bring her to Colorado. 

After picking her up at her residence in Nebraska, Kempter began to drive west on Interstate 80.  She was told to lay down in the front seat and cover herself. At some point while in Nebraska, Kempter stopped at a Walmart so that he could buy her new clothes. Evidence obtained in a search of Kempter’s vehicle revealed the purchase of boy’s pants, a shirt, and a blanket. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by the Lincoln Police Department, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department in Colorado and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.